Around this time of year comes a matter of paperwork.
It's either that imposing-looking 1998 1040 Forms and Instruction booklet from the Internal Revenue Service or a blank bracket for the March Madness office pool.
Here are a number of ways to prepare yourself for March Madness by using the vast resources of the Internet:
General information: At FinalFour.net (www.finalfour.net), users can get the NCAA-sanctioned lowdown, which is a good thing because the NCAA has exclusive rights to cybercasts of the games. Other cool features include archives of cybercasts, updated brackets and venue information, official NCAA merchandise and a Shockwave-powered interactive game for young users.
If you want a big-media perspective, college basketball sections at CBS SportsLine, ESPN.com, Fox Sports and CNN/SI have news updates, commentary and lots of interactivity (March Madness contests, polls and chats).
Those who like to woof it up can turn to the college basketball discussion newsgroup (rec.sport.basketball.college).
Handy software: Does the thought of using office supplies to run the March Madness office pool bother you? Well, let's say it does. The Net has several software applications that can set up customized office-pool brackets, which could save pool managers countless trips to the copier.
Turbo Tourney (www.sidelinesoftware.com) and Tourney Tracker (www. microfest.com) have Windows-based programs that can automate your office-pool bracket, which is good news if you're the one organizing a March Madness pool.
For a fee, the programs will calculate several forms of bracket scoring, customize reports for contestants and alert them via e-mail.
Several free programs are also available for download, including Hoops Manager '99 (www.netsiteone.com) and Tourney64 Basketball Pool Manager (www.tourney64.com).
Online contests: While the big-media sites have pick 'em contests, Wall Street Sports has the It's Madness $1 Million Challenge (www.itsmadness.com). Predict the winners of all 63 men's tournament games and you'll be eligible for a $1 million grand prize -- actually $25,000 per year for 40 years.
Of course, if you win $1 million, you'll certainly have to pay more attention to that 1040 form.
FANTASY ALERT: From the some-folks-have-no-life department, it's the Fantasy Baseball Experience, live via the 'Net from Tampa, Fla. The newly formed Fantasy Sports Players Association, a nonprofit trade organization that wants to protect consumer rights for fantasy leagues, was host to a gathering of fantasy hobbyists over the weekend.
Highlighting the event will be Baseball Weekly's sixth League of Alternative Reality draft, which brings together players renowned for their knowledge of both baseball and fantasy baseball.
Fantasy baseball followers can track the draft online through a Webcast available at Commissioner.com (labr.commissioner.com).
FANTASY II: Yahoo! Sports (sports.yahoo.com) has thrown out the first fantasy pitch by introducing its Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball. At the free site, managers can participate in public leagues or configure a scoring and statistics system for their own private leagues.
Pub Date: 03/08/99